Why Walkabout? Archive: V.1

#opwalkabout explained after a fashion...

Second Row from the front second in from the left.

"Dear Family and Friends and Folks,
I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well here in Boston. "

I moved from Eagle Point, OR to Boston, MA on August 27th 2002 (correct me if I'm wrong Mom).  My parents co-signed my student loans and off I went, although it's never as simple as that.

"Since I started working here, I've been given opportunities to learn about (and hopefully eventually work with) non-profit organizations that blockade foreclosed homes, rehabilitating disabled/ homeless veterans, and working with inner city children."

Long story short, I dropped out of college with two weeks left in my final semester of classes.  I bounced from job to job, working for seven years in customer service among various populations.  Just under a year ago I was laid off from my job at a staffing firm.  UNregular Radio gave me the opportunity to be an intern.

Left to Right: KC Hoye, Jackie Soriano Photo by Niki Smokes

"My employers, now mentors, and new friends, are teaching me through experience the importance of local economic awareness and action."

In the last nine months, I've been supported and challenged to face my professional, and personal inhibitions head on.  The opportunity to flower in a self-directed environment and create a position for myself played a key role in finding the confidence to take on this adventure.  When I first broached the topic with my bosses, their first words were "...Not sure if we'll have a laptop free.." (for mobile work), "if anyone can do it..." and "...sounds like an adventure...".  

Occupy Boston: Unknown Date

M'kay... but why?

"With each passing week there are more and more laws being changed to lead up to our rights being stripped away."

Several states in 2011 alone made changes to voter registration laws, making it either more difficult to register to vote, or changing absentee voting laws. There has been a systematic degradation in the voter registration and education "network" that is appalling to say the least. So many times in the last year I've seen "partisan" issues such as the "contraception debate" catch the eye of the media like a red herring, while bills like HR-347 pass nearly uncontested through "our" checks and balances system.

With the passing of NDAA last year, there are no longer provisions for habeas corpus for American citizens arrested during war-time under the Patriot Act. Anyone can be labelled "domestic terrorist" [or under suspicion as having actively worked with Al Qaeda or the Taliban], and there is no longer protection to allow for retrial, or appeal. "Free speech zones" are now being used to coral journalists and media during civil actions across the country.

"And so, to make a fist of it, I'm a-headed South come August. I'm walking from Boston Massachusetts to Washington in the District of Columbia nestled in the bonny bosom of ye olde Patomic River basin."

I'll be carrying with me letters, from myself and from others, letting the folks on capitol hill know, what they're doing is unacceptable.  Checks and balances is the process a single piece of legislation goes through to make sure that it does not violate the people's constitutional rights.  Some how it has turned into a system of weighted favors.  Chattel to be exchanged between business partners, leverage in a deal.  Our lives and lively hood aren't so many pretty things to be traded about.  


It will be a slow process to turn the public eye back to what's important, our responsibility to ourselves, our families, and our community.  My goal is to use this blog, my expertise in social media, and the platform of taking a 500 mile walk to Washington, DC to raise awareness of these issues and learn about our legislative process along the way.

-KC Hoye

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